Ethereum Developer Virgil Griffith Sentenced to 5+ Years For Speaking About Ethereum in North Korea - BitcoinEthereumNews.com
On April 12, 2022; Virgil Griffith, a former developer at the Ethereum Foundation, was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy, after traveling to Pyongyang in 2019, in violation of the international sanctions framed under The International Emergency Economic Powers Act imposed by the government of the United States on the government of North Korea. Griffith pleaded guilty to one single conspiracy charge for delivering a lecture on cryptocurrencies in North Korea, explaining the use of Ethereum and the basics of smart contracts. In addition to serving the 63-month prison sentence, Griffith must pay a $100,000 fine to the U.S. government. Griffith could have faced up to 20 years in prison Virgil Griffith was arrested in November 2019 in the U.S. after returning from North Korea following his lecture on Ethereum. He served approximately 2 years in custody of which he spent 14 months on bail, so the remainder will be appended as time served. Thanks to his plea, Griffiths sentence was reduced from a maximum of 20 years to almost 6 years in prison. In addition, according to the Pang-araw-araw na hayop, the defense asked for leniency for the “inhumane” conditions the inmate was living in by prohibiting